A deep learning-integrated phenotyping pipeline for vascular bundle phenotypes and its application in evaluating sap flow in the maize stem

Plant vascular bundles are responsible for water and material transportation, and their quantitative and functional evaluation is desirable in plant research. At the single-plant level, the number, size, and distribution of vascular bundles vary widely, posing a challenge to automatically and accurately identifying and quantifying them. In this study, a deep learning-integrated phenotyping pipeline was developed to robustly and accurately detect vascular bundles in Computed Tomography(CT) images of stem internodes. Two semantic indicators were used to evaluate and identify a suitable feature extraction network for semantic segmentation models. The epidermis thickness of maize stem was evaluated for the first time and adjacent vascular bundles were improved using an adaptive watershed-based approach. The counting accuracy(R^(2)) of vascular bundles was 0.997 for all types of stem internodes, and the measured accuracy of size traits was over 0.98. Combining sap flow experiments, multiscale traits of vascular bundles were evaluated at the single-plant level, which provided an insight into the water use efficiency of the maize plant.

Effects of different nozzle materials on atomization results via CFD simulation

Spray drying,as a crucial operation in industrial production,converts solution to fine particle.The spray moiety directly affects the final particle morphology,size and distribution.Compared with the experimental method,computational fluid dynamics(CFD)modeling is a powerful and convenient tool for simulating the spray process.Based on the verified CFD model,different materials of atomizer were simulated to investigate the effect on droplet size and distribution in this work.The modeling result proved that the droplet size and distribution were influenced by the resistance coefficient of materials,wherein the Reynolds number could change the effect of roughness along with the change of mass flow rate on spray process.The results in this work have implication for controlling droplet size through developing new spray nozzle with different materials or surface coating.

Engineering J-aggregates for NIR-induced meso-CF_(3)-BODIPY nanoparticles by activated apoptosis mechanism in photothermal therapy

Forming J-aggregates by organic monomer is a fascinating strategy to urge spectroscopic redshift with respect to that of the monomer.Herein,we designed 1,7-diphenyl-substituted meso–CF_(3)-BDP monomer confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis.The low-barrier rotation of the–CF_(3)group in meso–CF_(3)-BDP1 significantly enhances the non-radiative efficiency,and the photothermal conversion efficiency(PCE)of the self-assembled nanoparticles(1-NPs:λ_(abs)=746 nm)by J-aggregates was 82%.1-NPs could effectively block cell cycle progression,inhibit cancer cell proliferation and trigger cell apoptosis under low power laser irradiation(0.2 W/cm^(2)).This study proposes an alternate molecular design platform by J-aggregates to promote PCE through the insertion of rotating segment and trigger the cancer cells apoptosis in photothermal therapy at low power laser density.

LettuceGDB:The community database for lettuce genetics and omics

As a globally popular leafy vegetable and a representative plant of the Asteraceae family,lettuce has great economic and academic significance.In the last decade,high-throughput sequencing,phenotyping,and other multi-omics data in lettuce have accumulated on a large scale,thus increasing the demand for an integrative lettuce database.Here,we report the establishment of a comprehensive lettuce database,LettuceGDB(https://www.lettucegdb.com/).As an omics data hub,the current LettuceGDB includes two reference genomes with detailed annotations;re-sequencing data from over 1000 lettuce varieties;a collection of more than 1300 worldwide germplasms and millions of accompanying phenotypic records obtained with manual and cutting-edge phenomics technologies;re-analyses of 256 RNA sequencing datasets;a complete miRNAome;extensive metabolite information for representative varieties and wild relatives;epigenetic data on the genome-wide chromatin accessibility landscape;and various lettuce research papers published in the last decade.Five hierarchically accessible functions(Genome,Genotype,Germplasm,Phenotype,and O-Omics)have been developed with a user-friendly interface to enable convenient data access.Eight built-in tools(Assembly Converter,Search Gene,BLAST,JBrowse,Primer Design,Gene Annotation,Tissue Expression,Literature,and Data)are available for data downloading and browsing,functional gene exploration,and experimental practice.A community forum is also available for information sharing,and a summary of current research progress on different aspects of lettuce is included.We believe that LettuceGDB can be a comprehensive functional database amenable to data mining and database-driven exploration,useful for both scientific research and lettuce breeding.

Hydrogen peroxide-activatable iodoBodipy-phthalhydrazid conjugate nanoparticles for cancer therapy

The dependence on outer light source strongly hinders clinical applications of photodynamic therapy(PDT)to the deep-seated tumor.However,the majority of documented PDT systems that function without the external light source rely on either the chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer(CRET)or fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)mechanism,which decreases the energy transfer efficiency and reproducibility of PDT.Herein,we developed a novel single-molecule triplet photosensitizer(iodoBodipy(IBDP)-L)that can be chemiexcited to triplet excited state to generate reactive oxygen species instead of outer light irradiation.The direct bonding of phthalhydrazid moiety to iodoBodipy fluorophore evoked valid intramolecular energy transfer(IET),and once phthalhydrazid part is activated by hydrogen peroxide,the released reaction energy could excite the iodoBodipy-phthalhydrazid conjugate as a whole.Reaction product IBDP-L-COOH showed high triplet state quantum yield(ΦT=65%)and large spin-orbit coupling.A large amount of reactive oxygen species(ROS)was produced in MCF-7 cells,thus inhibiting the cell growth both in vitro and in vivo after IBDP-L was formulated into nanoparticles(NPs)via nanoprecipitation.We believe that the synthesized IodoBodipy-phthalhydrazid conjugate based on the IET mechanism will open a new door in the molecular design of efficient triplet photosensitizers for treating deeply seated tumors in the future.

A BODIPY-based Fluorescent Probe for Thiophenol

Thiophenol has been listed as one of the main sources of pollution. Sensitive probes for thiophenol are very significant. Herein, a BODIPY-based fluorescent probe, named BDP, for poisonous thiophenol detection has been reported. BDP shows rapid response （15 s） and clear fluorescence enhancement （30 folds） to thiophenol in solution. The intensity of fluorescence and concentration of thiophenol have a good linear relationship. The detection limit is as low as 13.6 nmol·L^-1： BDP is stable towards pH and light radiation. Cell experiments demonstrate that BDP has good cell membrane penetrability, low cell toxicity and excellent imaging properties in living cells. Therefore, BDP has significant value on the detection of thiophenol in solution and in living cell.

光动力疗法加速抗菌碳点对多耐药鲍曼不动杆菌的治疗

细菌对抗生素产生耐药性是引起公共卫生问题的主要因素.高效无抗生素杀菌剂对抗细菌感染相关疾病具有重要意义.本文采用溶剂热法,以有机杀菌剂或合成杀菌剂中间体为碳源,合成了具有宽吸收(350-700 nm)范围的红色荧光发射碳点(R-CDs).所合成的R-CDs不仅具有固有的抗菌活性,还可以通过590 nm光激发产生活性氧(ROS)有效杀死多耐药细菌(多耐药鲍曼不动杆菌(MRAB)和多耐药金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)).此外,R-CDs可有效消除MRAB表面生物膜并进一步抑制其再生能力,能够加速由细菌感染的伤口愈合速度,而对正常细胞的副作用很小.因此,这种非抗生素为碳源的碳点合成新策略为下一代抗耐药细菌药物的设计提供了参考.

基于亚甲基蓝制备的抗还原、抗聚集和抗DNA干扰的光动力治疗碳点

光动力疗法(PDT)是一种重要的癌症治疗手段,亚甲基蓝(MB)作为一种有效的光敏剂被广泛应用于光动力治疗.然而,MB在体内由于聚集以及与DNA结合而导致减色效应.同时,MB在实体瘤的低氧环境中容易被还原为无色的还原态leucoMB,从而丧失光动力能力.因此,我们以MB作为碳源,制备碳点MB-CDs.MBCDs不仅继承了MB的PDT能力,而且表现出良好的生物相容性和低毒性.重要的是,MB-CDs具有出色的抗还原、抗聚集和抗DNA干扰的能力,并且MB-CDs在体外和体内均表现出良好的PDT活性,仅用590 nm LED光源照射一次,即可使肿瘤体积减小到原始体积的20%以下.

A unique two-photon fluorescent probe based on ICT mechanism for imaging palladium in living cells and mice

Palladium(0)as one of the vital transition metals,is employed in numerous industries,such as drug synthesis,aerospace high-tech field and automobile industry.When the Pd(0)enter into the body,it will bind with thiol-containing amino acids,DNA,RNA,and other biomolecules damaging to human health.Thus,developing a novel tool for monitoring and imaging of Pd(0)in vivo is very urgent.In the work,based on a intramolecular charge transfer(ICT)mechanism a two-photon fluorescent probe NIPd had been designed and synthesized for the recognition Pd(0).In vitro experiments data displayed that probe NIPd exhibited a 13-fold fluorescent increase for Pd(0)in 30 min in the aqueous solution with a detection limit of 16 nmol/L.It also showed the outstanding selectivity and antijamming performance.More importantly,NIPd could be served as a two-photon fluorescent probe for real-time monitoring Pd(0)in living cells and mice.

Se-sensitized NIR hot band absorption photosensitizer for anti-Stokes excitation deep photodynamic therapy

Conventional anti-Stokes materials-involved deep photodynamic therapy(dPDT)requires much high-intensity irradiance due to low photosensitization efficiency.Herein,we proposed a"booster effector"approach to construct highly efficient hot band absorption phototherapeutics for low/biosafety power anti-Stokes light-triggered d PDT.Se,as"booster effector",was introduced into hot band absorption luminophores(HBAs),which not only significantly facilitated intersystem crossing,but also simultaneously enhanced hot band excitation efficiency atν808,as a result successfully enabling excellent photogenerated singlet oxygen capability of HBAs under ultra-low power anti-Stokes excitation(10 mW cm^(-2)in vitro).As far as we know,such low laser power-initiated photosensitization activity has never been reported in the existing anti-Stokes material systems.Importantly,FUC-Se ME can self-assemble into uniform nanospheres in water,greatly boosting cellular uptake(>25-fold larger than FUC-Se),and achieve superior cancer-killing effect(808 nm,10 mW cm^(-2),5 min,the half-maximal inhibitory concentration IC50=1.36μM).After further PEGylation with folate-attached polymer,the resultant FUC-Se ME@FA can effectively enrich at the tumor(signal-to-background ratio,10).Under safety irradiation(330 mW cm^(-2)),FUC-Se ME@FA effectively inhibits deep-seated tumor progression(the tumor growth inhibition rate,84%).This work provides a successful paradigm,possibly being more clinically beneficial than conventional anti-Stokes materials.

Hypoxia-activatable nano-prodrug for fluorescently tracking drug release in mice

Chemotherapy is one of the commonly used methods to treat various types of cancers in clinic by virtue of its high efficiency and universality. However, strong side effects and low concentration of conventional drugs at the tumor site have always been important factors that plague the chemotherapy effects of patients, further precluding their practical applications. Thereof, to solve the above dilemma, by integration of anticancer drug(nitrogen mustard, NM) into an NIR fluorophore(a dicyanoisophorone derivative), an intelligent prodrug NIR-NM was developed via molecular engineering strategy. Prodrug NIR-NM stimulated in hypoxia condition exhibits significantly higher toxicity to cancer cells than normal cells, essentially reducing the collateral damage to healthy cells and tissues of nitrogen mustard. More importantly, the nanoparticle prodrug FA-lip@NIR-NM showed the advantages of the high accumulation of drug at tumor site and long-circulation capacity in vivo, which endowed it the ability to track the release of the active chemotherapeutic drug and further treat solid tumors.

Protein nanoparticles containing Cu(Ⅱ)and DOX for efficient chemodynamic therapy via self-generation of H_(2)O_(2)

Chemodynamic therapy(CDT)refers to generating hydroxyl radical(OH)in tumor sites via hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))catalyzed by transition metal ions in cancer cells under acidic environment.However,H_(2)O_(2) content is not enough for effective CDT,although H2O2 content in cancer cells is higher than that of normal cells.Herein,we synthesized DOX@BSA-Cu NPs(nanoparticles)for effective CDT by providing enhanced content of H2O2 in cancer cells.The results proved Cu^2+ in NPs could be reduced to Cu+by glutathione(GSH)and effectively converted H_(2)O_(2) to OH.Moreover,the loaded low-dose doxorubicin(DOX)in the NPs could improve the content of H2O2 and resulted in more efficient generation of OH in cancer cells.Thus DOX@BSA-Cu NPs exhibited higher cytotoxicity to cancer cells.This research may provide new ideas for the further studies on more effective Cu(Ⅱ)-based CDT nanoagents.

A ɑ-KA fluorescent probe for discrimination of blood cancer serum

a-Ketoglutaric acid（a-KA） is an important metabolic intermediate in tricarboxylic acid circle in our body.The mutations of isocitrate dehydrogenase-1（IDH1） and isocitrate dehydrogenase-2（IDH2）, however,will lead to the transformation of a-KA into 2-hydroxyglutarate（2-HG）, which is confirmed to closely related to actue myeloid leukemia（AML）. Therefore it is of great significance to detect a-KA level changes in serum. In this paper, a fluorescent ＂off-on＂ probe CH for a-KA was designed based on naphthalimide fluorophore by introducing a hydrazine group for a-KA recognition and a long alkyl amino chain to enhance PET efficiency and water solubility. Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide（CTAB） was added toform self-assembly micelles for accelerating the recognition process. CH shows a 28-fold fluorescence enhancement（（I - I_0）/I_0 at 550 nm） over other biological species by optimizing the chemical recognition process of CH with a-KA. Significantly, CH was successfully applied for thefluorescence discrimination of all kinds of blood cancer serum samples. This work would provide a potential method that is quick and convenient for sensing a-KA and may promote fluorescence detection in clinical diagnosis.

NIR photosensitizers activated byγ-glutamyl transpeptidase for precise tumor fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy(PDT),a light triggered therapeutic mode,has been recognized as an attractive treatment for oncotherapy.The phototoxicity to normal tissues during treatment limited the development of PDT owing to the always“on”properties of photosensitizers.Activatable photosensitizers are of great importance for improving the selectivity of PDT.Herein,we regarded the overexpressed GGT(γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase)enzyme in tumor cells as a biomarker and developed an activatable photosensitizer Cy-GGT by decorating a specific recognition moiety of GGT,L-glutamic acid,to a hemicyanine dye based on photosensitizer Cy-NH_(2).Cy-GGT was in the“off”state with negligible fluorescence and suppressed singlet oxygen generation,but it could be specifically hydrolyzed to Cy-NH_(2) in the presence of GGT,accompanied with significant fluorescence recovery and singlet oxygen generation increase under light irradiation.The in vitro and in vivo studies indicated that Cy-GGT was suitable for precise tumor imaging and could work as an efficient photosensitizer for inhibiting tumor growth.

CD44-Specific Targeting Nanoreactors with Glutathione Depletion for Magnifying Photodynamic Tumor Eradication

Photodynamic therapy(PDT)is an efficacious noninvasive therapeutic modality that utilizes nontoxic photosensitizers(PSs)to transform oxygen into highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species(ROS)under specific light irradiation.However,low intratumoral accumulation capacity and the reduced ROS production caused by excessive glutathione(GSH,a scavenger of ROS)in the tumor microenvironment(TME)immensely limit PDT therapeutic efficacy.

Enhancing Intersystem Crossing by Intermolecular Dimer-Stacking of Cyanine as Photosensitizer for Cancer Therapy

Development of new photosensitizers(PSs)with high singlet oxygen quantumyield and minimal side effects is of great interest in photodynamic therapy(PDT).Herein,a facile strategy to significantly improve photosensitization has been demonstrated for the first time with two pentamethine dyes connected by a varying alkyl chain resulting in a series of cyanine dimers.The photophysical properties of the dimerswere studied with steady-state optical spectroscopies,a timecorrelated single photon counting technique,and laser flash photolysis spectrometry.X-ray crystallography confirmed that the molecular packing modes of Cy-Bu-D and Cy-He-D were dominated by H-aggregation.The H-aggregation by dimerization suppresses the radiative singlet decay,which helps to stabilize the highly efficient triplet excitation state.Moreover,the dimers show more intensewavelength absorption in the nearinfrared(ɛ1.5-2.0 times more than monomer Cy-H at 650 nm),better singlet oxygen quantum yield,and a longer triplet-state lifetime than monomer Cy-H,providing excellent performance as a triplet PS.In vivo experiments demonstrated that Cy-He-D successfully suppresses tumor growth after PDT treatment.This work is beneficial to the design of novel heavy atom free PSs for PDT-based theranostic systems.